Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

15 reviews

apollo0325's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

With every action they make to take away your rights, they adopt  an air of phony shame, as if they actually cared about the consequences of their beliefs.

This book was absolutely heart-wrenching, and the fact it was/is the reality of queer kids is even worse. Despite the best efforts, people still think queers are an illness, something that can be ‘cured’ when this is who we are. So many drape their homophobia with religion too.

This book is H E A V Y and even so, it’s an understatement. It’s important but difficult and necessary to have queer books centered on subject matter like this. Every queer story doesn’t end in a happily ever after.

Framing it within Greek mythology adds another layer of interest and way to connect to Raya’s journey. It also felt like a coping mechanism for Raya which is a common trend among queers (shout out to my PJO queers, ayyy).

My only critique of this book is the lack of understanding of time passing. It feels like SO MUCH has happened but then Raya mentions being dropped off four days ago? It felt a bit unclear. Then again, this may have been an intentional choice by the author to show even Raya has no concept of time and self in the latter half of the book.

Lastly, I implore anyone wanting to read this book to PLEASE LOOK AT TRIGGER WARNINGS. This book does not fuck around. For real.

“You know, the thing about family is that you can choose it. And I choose you.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Biphobia, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Torture, Violence, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Outing, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Note for sexual harassment tag: the kids forced to go to the conversion camp are also forced to watch content of boys kissing boys or girls kissing girls or near sexual experiences between the same sexes. Nothing is explicitly detailed but it is mentioned. I didn’t know which tag to choose so I chose that one.

ellefrost64's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

I'm sure this is a good book somewhere. I split it into half because it did get too heavy for one sitting. It's not really anything similar to Orpheus and Eurydice.

Char is fucking awful I don't care she has enough trauma to kill a horse (ha), that's not an excuse to turn around and administer electro shock treatment. Like if anyone deserves to get their ass beaten it's her and hyde, but especially her. Also agree with another reviewer like why did the one singular trans character have to have the suicide attempt in graphic detail? I'm not sure. I know this book is true to life in places like this but goddamn it is just one onslaught of trauma after another and it's exhausting. And the wings try to be moments of lightness among it all but it didn't work for me.

. I hope this book helps someone, but it just made me exhausted and mad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Deadnaming

pick a trigger warning and assume it's included here, including electroshock therapy, conversion camps,

maisiemoo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This was the heaviest book I’ve ever read and I think it’s going to take a while to leave me.

This book succeeds in portraying the horrifying reality of conversion therapy and made me feel so appreciative of the support network I’ve had since coming out, because not everyone is that fortunate.

I really thought that there would be more parallels to mythology in terms of the plot. I felt like the metaphors could have been taken further, but that’s just my personal opinion.

At some points I found Raya’s recollection of her childhood quite repetitive. I felt like, although she was telling different stories, they all ended with the same point about her grandmother not wanting her and her feeling inadequate. Personally, I found these snippets of her past didn’t really add much to the narrative.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style of the author, but I found the overall plot very hard-hitting. It was a difficult read, and I’d urge people to take care when reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Abandonment, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence

rubadubindabathtub's review

challenging dark hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Outing, Medical content, Violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Drug use, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Transphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, Self harm, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Deadnaming, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Dysphoria

qcupquake's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Orpheus Girl
4.75/5

- wow. just wow.
- MAJOR TW for homophobia and transphobia bc oh my god
- i went into this thinking it wasn't gonna be that bad but as a queer kid with religious truama, that hit HARD.
- although i'm not a lesbian, i could definitely relate raya's experiences with hiding and religion to my own experiences such as being afraid of fire and brimstone.
- very quick read (although i procrastinated a lot)
- definitely not for the faint of heart bc this is gut-wrenching

- i hope sarah and raya got to new york and found a new life. they deserve it

- something is stopping me from making this 5 stars but i don't know what
- overall an amazing and heartbreaking book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Transphobia, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Deadnaming, Abandonment, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit

_meganno's review

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia and Homophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Transphobia, and Vomit

leah_dawn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Hate crime, Outing, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Torture, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Lesbophobia

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an extremely intriguing novel. It definitely delves into sensitive subject matter and deals with severe homophobia, so approach it with caution if that’s triggering for you, but it’s also eye opening and inspirational.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Torture, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Physical abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Deadnaming, Medical content, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Hate crime, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

irasobrietate's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Outing, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Torture

Moderate: Car accident, Bullying, Eating disorder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

isco1428's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

This book felt way too fast paced for its own good. I think the book would have benefited tremendously from another 100-200 pages and a solid editor. The characters were almost a hit for me but we get so little time with the majority of them that they end up falling flat 99% of the time. There is also a very strange attempt at a redemption arc for one character and, in my opinion, it felt superficial. What is motivating and driving these characters? We’re meant to cheer them on purely on principle but what makes their stories any different than others? The characters end up feeling like an amalgamation of tropes with homogenized backgrounds. Overall, the book ends up feeling one note — like darting toward the finish line only to just…stop. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Biphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Ableism